Memories in the Dark
by rangers123
Summary: He laid there against that broken candy cane, injured and in a lot of pain. And as he sat there, trying to avoid the invaders, he envisioned the last memories of his friends' faces. What had gone so wrong for him to be in this position?


**I saw Wreck it Ralph last week on Black Friday, and I am absolutely obsessed with this story. This idea popped into my mind as I was sitting in school. It takes a different turn of events and heads in another direction. **

**In this universe, the games still exist and interact with each other like the movie but there are no gamers in order for the story to sound more believable. There is still electricity to the arcade, however, which means the games can still run. They also still have to work their daily routinest because it's because of their programming. Hope that clarifies everything. Enjoy the story! **

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He knew it was pretty bad.

He was experiencing the dreaded pixelated glitches, which meant his pixels were beginning to dim and fade as uncontrollable glitches caused him to shake violently. Every character in Litwak's Arcade knew when these symptoms came it was the end for the character, and most likely the game itself.

As Ralph lay against a bent candy cane, he tried to keep as quiet as possible from the invaders that were all over the landscape. But given his behemoth size, it was nearly impossible to do so. Having massive glitches that caused him to shake violently, which in return would create unwanted noises that drew the attention of the Cy-bugs, was not helping at all. But he managed to keep safe, for now, by hiding among broken pieces of candy canes and Jawbreakers. There, he could rest, and only wait for the invaders to pass.

He sighed as he stared at the ruined landscape of what had been the popular candy themed racing game _Sugar Rush_. Nearly everything had been destroyed by the relentless and disparaging Cy-bugs, who consumed and annihilated objects with the ferocity of locusts storming a cornfield. Broken pieces of candy canes and licorice lay upon what had been the racetrack, which now resembled a mess of smashed licorice and broken pieces of graham crackers. Globs of melting ice cream and smashed lollipops were strewn across the barely existing bridge that had led to the castle, which was the only standing structure in the game. But the castle itself was in no better shape, as huge chunks of it had been torn apart or eaten by the venomous raiders. And among the melting and broken pieces of candy, hundreds of Cy-bugs and bodies lay motionless on the ground, which resembled a mass grave site. An observer would've noted that it looked like a huge battle had taken place in this once cheerful and hyper game. They would've been right.

It was all his fault that he laid here dying; the last character in a now abandoned game. It was his idea to come out to fight the battle here in the first place. The strategy had been to split the fighters in half, with one section creating a diversion and false retreat, which would cause the Cy-bugs to give chase to them only to be attacked by a barrage of armory (which included lightweight machine guns, powerful slingshots, gumballs, flaming bow and arrows, whatever could be used as a mid range weapon) from the other group, who was hidden among the hills and candy canes, and lead to the Cy-Bug's total destruction. It had seemed like a good plan when talked about during the step by step planning of the attack. After all, the characters of the arcade had been desperate for a crucial victory to turn the tide of the conflict to their favor, ever since the mutated Cy-bugs, altered from a programming glitch, had first overrun the majority of the Marines in _Hero's Duty_ in a surprise attack which sent the inhabitants of Litwak's Arcade into a major panic. But the plan had miserably failed, mainly because while the _Street Fighter_ characters and villains of the arcade had successfully started the diversion, they had underestimated the speed of the Cy-bugs and found themselves being attacked themselves by ferocious Cy-bugs, leading to the complete annihilation of the diversion group. Ralph himself had been in the other group, holding a gumball launcher when the first Cy-bugs shocked the group, who hadn't been expecting the full force of the Cy-bugs to attack so quickly. It did not end well. The majority of the characters had been slaughtered, and the few remaining survivors had immediately grabbed what they could and darted like madmen for the exit. He himself had been bitten violently by a Cy-bug, but given his enormous size, he didn't die immediately, but instead he would instead die a slow, painful, death. Helpless from the scorching venom, he had laid there, paralyzed with pain and fear, not being able to do anything.

And there was the matter of his friends. Before he had lost consciousness from the overwhelming pain, he had seen the distressed faces of his friends, obviously wanting to help him and get him out of there, but not doing so because they knew that a mutated Cy-bug bite was fatal for the victim. There was Felix, his face full of fear and sadness, as they both knew their friendship would end too quickly, too sudden, screaming the words _It's been good knowing you Ralph, take care buddy_…there was Calhoun, talking to Ralph, placing the trigger into his hand and instructing him what to do before embracing him one last time and telling him _We'll miss you, Ralph_ before she began running…there was Vanellope, holding onto Ralph, crying and screaming _Ralph, Ralph, get up, get up, we have to go, _but getting picked up by a Marine who was fleeing towards the exit…there she was again, breaking out of the Marine's hold and attempting to glitch her way to Ralph but failing as a centaur grabbed hold of her firmly and continued running, her final words being _Ralph, Ralph, don't go away, please, I'll miss you, I love you_, still sobbing and screaming… He closed his eyes as he tried to get rid of the thoughts.

Now he lay under this pile of candy canes and Jawbreakers, waiting for his imminent demise and knowing that he was the last hope for all the games in the arcade. His hands brushed the trigger device that Calhoun had given him. Before she had left with the others, she had given him and the trigger device which was to be used to set off the various claymore mines and C4 packs that had been crudely placed along the walls of the extension cord that connected _Sugar Rush_ to Game Central Station. They had been placed there as a Plan B in case the diversion had failed. He was to use the device when the Cy-bugs had reached the exit tunnel to prevent the Cy-bugs from infiltrating the station and the rest of the arcade. But they knew that once he pressed the device, the game would be destroyed, and he would be… well, he knew what would happen to him. It was best that he avoided the topic for the moment.

He grimaced as he rolled over slightly, trying to get a better look at the tunnel. Something seemed to be poking his back and it was extremely uncomfortable. Using his uninjured arm, he managed to reach at the foreign object that was bugging him. What he found left him speechless.

It was a picture of the gang back at the penthouse in _Fix it Felix Jr._ They were all smiling and holding root beers as their picture was taken. He tried to envision when it had happened. Six months? Eight months ago? He snorted. Well before the invasion had taken place, that was for sure. He couldn't remember what the occasion had been, or why they were all together in the first place. That was the last time everyone had been happy. He scanned his eyes over the picture. There was Felix, holding his root beer like it was his golden hammer and giving a wide grin in the picture. Calhoun…she almost never smiled. Her military background caused her to be stone faced and emotionless all the time, but she was obviously enjoying herself in the picture, as a rare grin could be seen from her in the picture. The sight of Vanellope made his heart drop. He couldn't remember at all the last time the little sugar princess had been so bubbly and happy. Here she was, leaning against a chair in the picture, holding a root beer and smiling for the camera. And then his eyes focused on himself. The Ralph in the picture actually looked like he was having fun, holding that root beer...

A sudden gust of wind blew the picture out of his grasp, causing him to shake out of his thoughts. He stabbed at the picture, hoping to grab it, but missed. All he could do was watch as the picture flew into the forest, never to be seen again. Strangely, he felt no emotions from losing the picture. Perhaps, he thought, it was the tragedy and loss that had occurred so many times over the past several months that had caused him to grown as stone-faced as Calhoun. Many game characters were dead, and the few that had remained had sought refuge in the surviving games. Among the deceased were characters he had known for a very long time…the villains from the Badanon meeting were all gone…the poor ol' bar tender from _Tapper _had died fighting the Cy-bugs as he fought to defend his game…the innocent little Sugar Rush racers, as annoying as they were, were still fun to hang out with, they were gone also...the list just continued on and on. There had been too much suffering already.

Suddenly, he heard the familiar sound of a Cy-bug approaching. Waiting quietly, he watched as the Cy-bug scanned the area for survivors. And as he backed up a little bit, hoping to seek for better shelter, he accidentally cracked a broken candy cane with one of his hands, causing the Cy-bug to whirl its robotic head towards the noise. As it slowly approached the hidden Ralph, sensing something was wrong, he thought, _It's now or nothing_. Curling his uninjured hand into a massive fist, he smashed the front of the Cy-bug before it even realized what had happened, destroying it. But what he didn't expect was an alarm to screech out from the Cy-bug. _Crud,_ he thought, _it's a scout._ Only scout Cy-bugs had alarms, meant to alert others the bug was in danger. The alarm pierced the quiet of the afternoon, sending out an alarm that he knew would reach the main garrison of Cy-bugs near the castle. He only had so much time left. Hurriedly, he broke out of the makeshift disguise he was in and immediately began running to the tunnel, nearly tripping over his feet as he got up. As the sounds of incoming Cy-bugs began to reach him, he painfully ran as hard as he had ever run in his life, lumbering over the landscape to reach the tunnel exit, as if he were a mouse being chased by many hawks. He screamed out loud as he glitched violently, causing him to lose his balance and fall to the ground and shake, as if he were having a he knew he had to reach the tunnel. He managed to somehow get up and continue to sprint to the tunnel despite the shooting pain in his body and more and more pixels disappearing from his body.

Panting, he reached the entrance to the tunnel and stood wide-eyed as he saw what had to be the entire army of Cy-bugs coming towards him. He shook once again as he snatched the trigger out of his back pocket with his uninjured arm. He could see them coming closer and closer, their hungry eyes zeroing in on him. As his thumb hovered over the trigger button, he suddenly began to have flashbacks of his life. Memories of key events

He could see himself as a child playing with the younger version of Felix Jr.

There he was, crying as he watched his home get bulldozed to make way for the penthouse.

There he was, sleeping on his stump as he watched Felix receive congratulations from the Nicelanders on a job well done after a long day of work.

There he was, breaking the news to the guys back at the Badanon meeting about how he didn't want to be a bad guy anymore.

There he was, scared to death, fighting alongside a fiery Calhoun in _Hero's Duty_.

There he was, standing in euphoria over the medal he had taken from the top of the tower in _Hero's Duty_.

There he was, helping little Vanellope decorate her go-kart, signing it with their names.

There he was, teaching the princess how to drive in the racetrack he had created for her to practice on.

There he was, receiving a hand-crafted medal from her inscribed _You're my hero_.

There he was, fighting Turbo/King Candy as he struggled to explode Diet Coke Mountain to save _Sugar Rush_.

There he was, watching as life returned to normal in the arcade.

There he was, drinking a soda along with Felix and the Nicelanders, celebrating a long day of work.

There he was, smiling alongside the gang back at the penthouse, the last good memories he would have. 

He would miss Calhoun and her action packed character, along with her serious demeanor. He would miss Felix and his cheery attitude and his willingness to help everyone that was hurt. He would miss Vanellope and her fun loving, curious, yet sarcastic personality. Most of all, he would miss being with his friends.

He took a deep breath, and then gently pressed the trigger button. And as he felt the explosion of the tunnel blow up and the sudden rush of the game being disconnected forever, he whispered,

"I have fought the good fight, and I have protected my friends well. It's been a good life."

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**This wasn't my best story. I had to edit this multiple times before I came out with this, yet I still think it's only OK. But thanks for reading it anyways. Reviews are welcome!**


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